The Analysis of Homegarden Plant Diversity at the Mongolian Household Level in Horqin Sandy Land——A Case Study in Horqin Left Wing Real Banner of Inner Mongolia

In order to show the function of agricultural protection of biodiversity at the level of homegarden, comparative analysis was operated between 20 farmer households through random sampling and farmers recommended in Horqin Left Wing Real Banner Tongliao city Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and 10 farmer households of the Han nationality in the neighborhood. Thirty sampling plots of homegardens are investigated. The result indicates there are 100 homegarden plants in Bashou village, 84 in Hariwusu livestock farm, and 87 in Gongjihao village. It involves the cultivated and wild vegetables, fruits, and plants used for ornamental, medicine and forage. The comparative analysis of species richness demonstrates, among these villages the species richness of Bashou village is highest, while Hariwusu livestock farm is lowest. The former village contributes greatly to the conservation of plant biodiversity. These differences result from their respectively different natural conditions, homegarden areas, homegarden history, homegarden management conditions, traditional knowledge and culture understanding of homegarden manager, local farmers and herdsmen on homegarden plants.The homegarden plants from the three investigated villages are cataloged preliminary in the end of the paper.     

Managing Variability: Herding Strategies in Communal Rangelands of Semiarid Namaqualand, South Africa

Herd mobility is a tool for managing environmental variability in African pastoral systems. This study examines the monthly mobility patterns of 24 herds over six years in the 20,000 ha communal area of Paulshoek, Namaqualand, and assesses the social, economic, and ecological factors affecting the livestock movement of individual herds and all herds combined. When the mobility pattern of all herds was considered, no seasonal or between-year differences in response to rainfall were evident. An analysis of individual herd mobility patterns showed that half of the herds were relatively sedentary over the study period while the other half were regularly mobile. Although herders used mobility to manage their herds in the unpredictable semiarid environment, their daily decisions were often made in response to their social, economic, or personal situations. There was no significant difference in livestock production between herding strategies, but sedentary herders had a greater localized impact on the rangeland than mobile herders. Our analysis suggests that non-environmental factors play a significant role in herd mobility and may consequently affect the efficiency of livestock production and environmental management.     

The poultry thief: Subsistence farmers' perceptions of depredation outside the Serengeti National Park,Tanzania

Improving the understanding of human–carnivore conflicts is fundamental for the effective management of interventions. However, earlier research has largely focused on conflicts caused by top carnivores, and there is a general lack of knowledge about the drivers behind conflicts caused by smaller carnivores. Here, we investigated the characteristics and spatial patterns of perceived predators that caused losses of poultry. We used a structured interview of 481 households across seven villages outside Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Most households kept poultry and livestock, and 48.4% of all households perceived to have lost poultry to predators, but it was unrelated to perceived livestock depredation. On average, predators killed almost one‐third of the poultry kept by each household, which is equivalent to an average annual economic loss of US $14.5 ± 18.6, or 10.4% of the cash income. Economic dependency did not influence the likelihood of perceiving depredation. The most parsimonious linear mixed‐effects model showed that the probability of claiming losses to predators increased with increasing flock sizes and distance to the nearest protected area. We discuss our findings in relation to the current interest in rural poultry production shown by conservation programmes in Africa.     

不同草地所有权下家庭牧场生产效率比较分析

选取了甘肃祁连山区肃南县春夏秋冬四季草场均已分配到户的15个牧户和天祝县夏秋草场或四季草场均为公共草场的15个农牧户,从草地生态系统生产功能的角度,通过野外调查、DEA模型(数据包络分析模型)分析,比较两地牧民草场面积,冷季补饲,牧工费,家庭劳动力等投入,出售活畜、毛、奶等畜产品的产出等项目,探讨不同的草地所有权下牧民生产效率平均值、效率分布的差异性以及影响生产效率的因素。结果显示:天祝县农牧民生产效率的平均值大于肃南县(P0.05),且天祝县牧户生产效率的分布优于肃南县。进一步分析得出造成牧业生产效率低的原因从大到小顺序为:补饲投入、能繁母畜、草场面积和劳动力投入。验证了草地所有权会影响家庭牧场生产效率的假设,并且就生产效率角度来说,不完全承包到户的草地所有权优于完全承包到户的。     

The economic determinants of land degradation in developing countries

The following paper investigates the economic determinants of land degradation in developing countries. The main trends examined are rural households'' decisions to degrade as opposed to conserve land resources, and the expansion of frontier agricultural activity that contributes to forest and marginal land conversion. These two phenomena appear often to be linked. In many developing areas, a poor rural household''s decision whether to undertake long-term investment in improving existing agricultural land must be weighed against the decision to abandon this land and migrate to environmentally fragile areas. Economic factors play a critical role in determining these relationships. Poverty, imperfect capital markets and insecure land tenure may reinforce the tendency towards short-term time horizons in production decisions, and may bias land use decisions against long-term land management strategies. In periods of commodity booms and land speculation, wealthier households generally take advantage of their superior political and market power to ensure initial access to better quality resources, in order to capture a larger share of the resource rents. Poorer households are confined either to marginal environmental areas where resource rents are limited, or only have access to resources once they are degraded and rents dissipated.<br>Overall trends in land degradation and deforestation are examined, followed by an overview of rural households'' resource management decisions with respect to land management, frontier agricultural expansion, and migration from existing agricultural land to frontiers. Finally, the discussion focuses on the scope for policy improvements to reduce economic constraints to effective land management. <br>     

Use patterns and value of Savanna resources in three Rural villages in South Africa

Rural communities in South Africa harvest a diversity of wild resources from communal woodlands for home consumption and sale. The contribution these resources make to the rural economy has been little recognized, and few studies have attempted to place a monetary value on this use. This paper describes three case studies which aimed to determine the value of savanna resources for the livelihoods of rural households. Use patterns and values of resources in three villages of differing socioeconomic status were determined using household interviews, PRA techniques and key informant interviews. Questions were designed to establish the types of products used, frequency of use, quantities used, seasonality of use, longevity of durable resources, local prices, and the extent of trade. All households were procuring at least some woodland resources, with the most frequently used being fuel wood, wood for implements, edible herbs and fruits, grass for brushes, and insects. Patterns of resource use varied across villages. The most “rural” village used the greatest diversity of resources and had the highest number of users for most resources. Gross value of resources consumed per household per year ranged from R28I9 to R7238. Total value was highest in the less obviously resource dependent village, primarily the result of higher local prices due to greater extraction costs and a larger market for traded goods. Values are comparable to those contributed by other land-based livelihood activities such as subsistence cultivation and livestock production.     

科尔沁沙地蒙古族户级水平庭园植物多样性分析——以内蒙古通辽市科尔沁左翼后旗的研究为例

为了表明农户庭园在户级水平上对农业生物多样性保护的作用,在内蒙古通辽市科尔沁左翼后旗采用随机抽样和农户推荐选择20个农户,同时在邻近地区的汉族地区选择10个农户作为对比分析。在此基础上对其家庭庭园采用典型取样法设立30个样方进行调查。结果表明：巴首嘎查庭园植物有100种、哈日乌苏种畜场共有84种、公济号村有87种,包括栽培及野生蔬菜、水果、观赏、药用、饲用等植物。三个村庄庭园植物物种丰富度分析比较发现巴首嘎查的物种丰富度相对最高,而哈日乌苏种畜场的相对最低,反映巴首村对庭园物种多样性保护的贡献相对最大。这些差异是由于自然条件、庭园面积、庭园历史、庭园管理条件及庭园管理者、当地农牧民对庭园植物的传统知识和文化的认识的差异所造成。文末还对调查的三个村庄的庭园植物进行了初步编目。     

Predator,prey and humans in a mountainous area: loss of biological diversity leads to trouble

Large carnivore-human coexistence is a challenging issue in wildlife conservation worldwide. An adequate and diverse prey spectrum favours carnivore persistence. Prey depletion and habitat loss elicit conflict with humans and require sound conservation measures. We evaluated the conflict between common leopards and humans in a densely populated Himalayan forest area of Pakistan. In two decades, the local forests decreased at an average rate of 65.5 ha/year (6.6%), with a concomitant increase in areas covered by human settlements (81.5%) and agricultural lands (15.4%). Ranging movements of a GPS/GSM-radiotagged male leopard over 16 months encompassed an area inhabited by c. 124,000 people. Livestock dominated the leopard’s diet (absolute frequency of occurrence: 80%), while wild ungulates were rarely eaten (absolute occurrence: 22%). Domestic goats were the most frequent diet item (61%), followed by domestic dogs (12%) and Bos spp. (6%). Wild prey included canids, small carnivores, rhesus monkeys, small mammals and gallinaceous birds. Socioeconomic implications of human-leopard coexistence were investigated: 18.5% of the households interviewed (N?=?1016) suffered livestock depredation by leopards, with an overall loss of 123 USD/km²/year, in an area of 328 km². In the first c. 15 years of this century, about 2 attacks to humans/year were recorded, half of which were lethal, whereas c. 6 leopards/year were killed in retaliation. The common leopard is ‘critically endangered’ in Pakistan mainly because of habitat loss and concurrent prey depletion. To increase the long-term survival of leopards and mitigate human-carnivore conflicts, priority should be given to restoration of a diverse natural prey assembly and protection of forest habitats, together with improved livestock management practices and livestock compensation. The latter will require a sustainable financial mechanism.     

Bearing the Burden: Portage Labor as an Adaptive Response to Predictable Food Deficits in Eastern Nepal

Wage work such as portage labor is one of several adaptive strategies by which rural households in Nepal supplement their subsistence agriculture. This study, conducted in the hills of eastern Nepal in 1997, surveyed the landholdings and household subsistence base of 50 commercial porters hired to transport loads from Jiri to various destinations in Solu Khumbu. A major goal was to test the hypothesis that porter households tend to have smaller landholdings than the average household in this region. An unexpected result was that porter households in this study owned nearly as much arable land (1.07 ha) as the mean of 1.15 ha for all hill families in eastern Nepal. Household grain sufficiency correlated significantly (P < 0.01) with farm size (r = 0.53). The majority of the porters lived in villages located at either the origin or the endpoint of their portage work. The study also examined several variables that might explain why portage labor is a full-time occupation for some Nepalis, but a part-time “casual” occupation for others. The most significant difference between households of full-time and part-time porters was the availability of workers at home for managing the household’s land and livestock resources. Households of full-time porters were better able to spare a family member for full-time wage labor because they had significantly more adult workers of either gender (P < 0.05) than households of part-time porters. Full-time and part-time porter households did not differ significantly with regard to family size, land ownership, or number of food-deficit months.     

Environmental Impact Assessment of the Heterogeneity in Consumers’ Usage Behavior: An Agent‐Based Modeling Approach

The aim of this study is to develop a framework for understanding the heterogeneity and uncertainties present in the usage phase of the product life cycle through utilizing the capabilities of an agent‐based modeling (ABM) technique. An ABM framework is presented to model consumers’ daily product usage decisions and to assess the corresponding electricity consumption patterns. The theory of planned behavior (TPB), with the addition of the habit construct, is used to model agents’ decision‐making criteria. A case study is presented on the power management behavior of personal computer users and the possible benefits of using smart metering and feedback systems. The results of the simulation demonstrate that the utilization of smart metering and feedback systems can promote the energy conservation behaviors and reduce the total PC electricity consumption of households by 20%.     

Solar-Dried Traditional African Vegetables in Rural Tanzania: Awareness,Perceptions, and Factors Affecting Purchase Decisions

Economic Botany - This paper analyzes rural households’ awareness, perceptions, and factors influencing decisions to purchase solar-dried traditional African vegetables (TAVs). Solar-dried...     

Goats and garbage in Khartoum,Sudan: A study of the urban ecology of animal keeping

Waste management in developing world urban areas is an acute problem which is linked to high growth rates and abatement methods less advanced than in the developed world. Existing neighborhood waste management practices often include the use of organic waste as a feed supplement for urban livestock (mainly goats, but also sheep and cattle). These urban animals bring economic benefits to less affluent residents, who would suffer an economic loss if their supply of urban waste was reduced or eliminated by an organized waste collection and disposal strategy. This paper employs a survey of 319 Greater Khartoum households to derive an estimate of waste intake per urban animal, and illustrate demographic factors (e.g., rural or urban roots, income, education, number of children) which influence animal keeping. A loglinear/logit model is developed to predict animal-keeping households. This model can be applied by waste management planners to estimate the frequency of urban animals in developing world urban areas.     

An agent-based model of sleeping sickness: simulation trials of a forest focus in southern Cameroon

An agent-based model (AMB) used to simulate the spread of Human African Trypanosomiasis is presented together with the results of simulations of a focus of the disease. This model is a completely spatialized approach taking into account a series of often overlooked parameters such as human behaviour (activity-related movements), the density and mobility of the disease vectors--tsetse flies (Glossina spp.)--and the influence of other tsetse feeding hosts (livestock and wild animal populations). The agents that represent humans and tsetse flies move in a spatially structured environment managed by specialized location agents. Existing compartmental mathematical models governed by differential equations fail to incorporate the spatial dimension of the disease transmission. Furthermore, on a small scale, transmission is unrealistically represented by entities less than one. This ABM was tested with data from one village of the Bipindi sleeping sickness focus (southern Cameroon) and with obtained realistic simulations of stable transmission involving an animal reservoir. In varying different spatial configurations, we observe that the stability of spread is linked to the spatial complexity (number of heterogeneous locations). The prevalence is very sensitive to the human densities and to the number of tsetse flies initially infected in a given location. A relatively low and durable prevalence is obtained with shortening the phase I. In addition, we discuss some upgrading possibilities, in particular the linkage to a Geographical Information System (GIS). The agent-based approach offers new ways to understanding the spread of the disease and a tool to evaluate risk and test control strategies.     

Patterns of livestock depredation and cost‐effectiveness of fortified livestock enclosures in northern Tanzania

Human–carnivore conflicts and retaliatory killings contribute to carnivore populations' declines around the world. Strategies to mitigate conflicts have been developed, but their efficacy is rarely assessed in a randomized case–control design. Further, the economic costs prevent the adoption and wide use of conflict mitigation strategies by pastoralists in rural Africa. We examined carnivore (African lion [Panthera leo], leopard [Panthera pardus], spotted hyena [Crocuta crocuta], jackal [Canis mesomelas], and cheetah [Acinonyx jubatus]) raids on fortified (n = 45, total 631 monthly visits) and unfortified (traditional, n = 45, total 521 monthly visits) livestock enclosures (“bomas”) in northern Tanzania. The study aimed to (a) assess the extent of retaliatory killings of major carnivore species due to livestock depredation, (b) describe the spatiotemporal characteristics of carnivore raids on livestock enclosures, (c) analyze whether spatial covariates influenced livestock depredation risk in livestock enclosures, and (d) examine the cost‐effectiveness of livestock enclosure fortification. Results suggest that (a) majority of boma raids by carnivores were caused by spotted hyenas (nearly 90% of all raids), but retaliatory killings mainly targeted lions, (b) carnivore raid attempts were rare at individual households (0.081 raid attempts/month in fortified enclosures and 0.102 raid attempts/month in unfortified enclosures), and (c) spotted hyena raid attempts increased in the wet season compared with the dry season, and owners of fortified bomas reported less hyena raid attempts than owners of unfortified bomas. Landscape and habitat variables tested, did not strongly drive the spatial patterns of spotted hyena raids in livestock bomas. Carnivore raids varied randomly both spatially (village to village) and temporally (year to year). The cost‐benefit analysis suggest that investing in boma fortification yielded positive net present values after two to three years. Thus, enclosure fortification is a cost‐effective strategy to promote coexistence of carnivores and humans.     

Production objectives,trait and breed preferences of farmers keeping N’Dama,Fulani Zebu and crossbred cattle and implications for breeding programs

Many local livestock breeds in developing countries are being replaced by exotic breeds, leading to a loss of genetic resources. In southern Mali, for the past two decades, a trend towards increasing crossbreeding between the trypanotolerant N’Dama cattle and the trypano-susceptible Fulani Zebu cattle has been taking place. A survey with 160 farmers owning a cattle herd was carried out in southern Mali to investigate their production objectives, as well as trait and breed preferences and correlated socio-economic determinants in order to understand farmers’ breeding decisions and to identify comparative advantages of three breed groups (N’Dama, Fulani Zebu and crossbreds) raised in the study area. Data were analyzed using an exploded logit model. The reasons for raising cattle, as well as trait and breed preferences reflected the multiple objectives of the farmers. Draught power and savings were the most important production objectives. Productive traits were ranked highest; farmers reported large body size as the most preferred trait, followed by fertility, draught ability and milk yield. Crossbreds were the favored breed group. Breed preferences were mainly explained by ‘resistance to disease’ for N’Dama cattle and ‘high market price’ for Fulani Zebu and crossbred cattle. Production objectives, trait and breed preferences were mainly influenced by farmer group (local farmers and settled transhumants). Local farmers put comparatively more emphasis on livestock functions linked to crop production such as draught power. They had a higher preference for traction ability as a selection trait and preferred N’Dama over Fulani Zebu cattle. Settled transhumants emphasized milk yield as a selection trait and preferred Fulani Zebu over N’Dama. The results indicate that the trend towards more crossbreeding will continue putting the N’Dama breed under high risk of genetic dilution in southern Mali. The N’Dama cattle remain a valuable breed due to their adaptive traits such as disease and drought tolerance and their good traction ability, fulfilling the diverse objectives of local farmers. Crossbreeding was found to be a promising breeding strategy, which might contribute to the maintenance of the local breed, provided that breeding schemes are thoroughly planned and organized.     

Livestock Transfers, Risk Management, and Human Careers in a West African Pastoral System

Pastoralists employ different strategies to minimize the risk of losing their livelihood due to drought, disease, and other disasters. Livestock transfers have been considered critical because they provide not only a safety net during disasters but also contribute to the resilience of pastoral societies by allowing pastoralists to rebuild their herds after disasters. I examine whether and how livestock transfers serve as risk management strategies in a comparative, ethnographic study of three pastoralist communities in the Far North Region of Cameroon. The findings show that livestock transfers contribute to short-term survival of households but not long-term viability of family herds. Here I argue for a more holistic, anthropological approach that considers the social and cultural aspects of strategic decisions that individual pastoralists make when they engage in these transfers.     

乡村生态学概论

城市生态学已逐渐发展成一门受众人肯定的生态学分支学科,但乡村生态学未引起广泛重视。本文定义乡村生态学为研究村落形态、结构、行为及其与环境本底统一体客观存在的生态学分支科学。村落是以一定年龄结构、一定数量人口或人群为基本特征,以户为组成单位,以土地为经营对象,以相应的生物(牲畜和作物)为主要价值资源的人类聚居的空间单元。村落除具空间和生命涵义外,还直接联系地理位置、地形地势、气候、土壤和植被等景观要素与资源参数;同时,它还与历史传统、社会习俗等多方面复杂因素有关。乡村生态学的意义在于揭示村落与所有这些相关因素的关系,并用以指导乡村建设。     

Domestic Dogs in Rural Communities around Protected Areas: Conservation Problem or Conflict Solution?

Although domestic dogs play many important roles in rural households, they can also be an important threat to the conservation of wild vertebrates due to predation, competition and transmission of infectious diseases. An increasing number of studies have addressed the impact of dogs on wildlife but have tended to ignore the motivations and attitudes of the humans who keep these dogs and how the function of dogs might influence dog-wildlife interactions. To determine whether the function of domestic dogs in rural communities influences their interactions with wildlife, we conducted surveys in rural areas surrounding protected lands in the Valdivian Temperate Forests of Chile. Sixty percent of farm animal owners reported the use of dogs as one of the primary means of protecting livestock from predators. The probability of dog–wild carnivore interactions was significantly associated with the raising of poultry. In contrast, dog–wild prey interactions were not associated with livestock presence but had a significant association with poor quality diet as observed in previous studies. Dog owners reported that they actively encouraged the dogs to chase off predators, accounting for 25–75% of the dog–wild carnivore interactions observed, depending on the predator species. Humans controlled the dog population by killing pups and unwanted individuals resulting in few additions to the dog population through breeding; the importation of predominantly male dogs from urban areas resulted in a sex ratios highly dominated by males. These results indicate that dog interactions with wildlife are related to the role of the dog in the household and are directly influenced by their owners. To avoid conflict with local communities in conservation areas, it is important to develop strategies for managing dogs that balance conservation needs with the roles that dogs play in these rural households.